Falling Fast (8 page)

Alexa didn’t know what the polished, mean-looking woman was talking about, but she couldn’t miss her menacing, aggressive tone.

“What stunt?”

“Oh come on!” Shelby snorted, her face screwed up with jealousy. Gesturing to the women she had been talking to, she said, “We all know you tripped getting out of the limo on purpose.”

“You think I actually did that on purpose?” Alexa asked, incredulous that anyone would think her idiotic behavior was a ploy to get Brandon’s attention.

“You were making it easy for him to cop a feel. But he’ll see right through your little trick. He’s going to choose a classy girl like me to be his wife, so you had better stop trying to lay it on so thick.”

Shelby stalked back to her clique and Alexa shook her head, realizing with equal parts amusement and trepidation, that some of the other contestants
were
actually jealous of her clumsy mistakes.

“I believe you didn’t trip on purpose, Alexa,” Brigit said. “I know you would never do something like that to try and get a leg up on the competition, or whatever some of the girls have been accusing you of.”

“Thanks,” Alexa said, glad to have Brigit’s support, feeling guiltier by the second. Sure, she hadn’t jumped into Brandon’s arms on purpose, but she was on the show under false pretenses. The closer she got to Brigit, the more hurt her new friend would be when Alexa told all in her story.

Alexa never realized that undercover journalists would have qualms about hurting the people they were investigating, even when they had a really good reason to write their articles.

She did have a good reason to write this story, didn’t she? After all, weren’t shows like
Falling For Mr. Right
portraying women as desperate and subservient?

Although, thus far, if anything she was surprised by just how forceful and determined these women were. Heck, she was even a little afraid of a few of them.

The cameraman pulled her aside to get her take on Brandon, so she mustered up her most vacuous smile. “I’d definitely say he’s Mr. Right. What a hunk! I thought I’d die when I tripped getting out of the limo. Although,” she added with a wicked upturn of her lips, “it sure felt good falling into his arms. And although I certainly didn’t plan for him to hold me so close, so fast, I can’t say I’m sorry it happened.”

After they moved on to interview another contestant, Alexa realized with dismay that she really hadn’t been lying during the short interview. The muscles in Brandon’s biceps and forearms had rippled wonderfully beneath her fingertips and he smelled clean and fresh and entirely male. A shiver passed through her as she remembered the feel of his breath by her ear.

I am behaving like a complete nit wit,
she lectured herself silently. So what if Brandon had a good body and smelled nice? Who else but a misogynistic head-case would actually think that he could find a soul mate on a TV show in front of millions of strangers? No matter what her hormones were screaming, she could never respect a man who would participate in something like this.

The object of her disdainful thoughts stepped through the doors and into the living room.

He looked so glum, she actually felt a little sorry for him.

The producer began his canned speech. “Ladies, before we begin the “heart” selection ceremony tonight, I hope you enjoyed getting to know our very own Mr. Right tonight, because I know he enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you.” He paused for the requisite titters and giggles. “Brandon has made the very difficult decision about which ten of you will be receiving a See’s Candies chocolate heart and moving into the
Falling For Mr. Right
mansion in Pacific Heights tomorrow. Brandon, why don’t you take it from here?”

Brandon cleared his throat. “Before I say anything else, I want to thank you all for being here tonight. I don’t know whether I have lived up to your expectations, but I want you to know that you have exceeded each and every one of mine.”

Several of the women sighed and said, “Aww, he’s so sweet,” which made Alexa faintly ill, although she had to admit that he did sound sincere. Letting the murmurs subside, he said, “I don’t want to drag this out any longer than it has to be, so here we go.”

He called out the first woman’s name and gave her the chocolate heart wrapped in a gold box with a red bow. Alexa was happy to see that Brigit was the second woman he chose, and she noted that Brigit was thrilled as well. As he made his way closer to the ten woman cut-off, Alexa’s nerves went into overdrive.

Brandon called out Shelby’s name and Alexa started in surprise. He was picking that cold bimbo? His poor choice confirmed all of her negative thoughts about him. Only someone shallow, perverted, or completely blind would keep the nasty redhead around. She wondered which of the three best fit Brandon.

Turning her thoughts back to her current predicament, Alexa fought the urge to bite her nails out of sheer nervousness. If she didn’t make the first cut, Jane was going to kill her. After they went to all the trouble of buying her clothes and getting her fixed up, if she had blown it by not being more outgoing this evening and really trying to make her mark with Brandon, she wouldn’t be surprised if Jane sacked her altogether. Down the drain with her cover story would go any chance she had of making a difference in the world working for
ROAR
.

Deep in her worried fog, Alexa was startled when Brigit elbowed her in the rubs. Alexa looked first at Brigit, who was pointing to Brandon, and then at Brandon, who said, “That’s right. I was talking to you, Alexa.”

Alexa smoothed a hand over her hair and planted a wide smile on her face to buy some time. But as she took a deep breath, she realized her smile was a genuine one. She decided it had nothing to do with getting to spend more time with Brandon, and everything to do with the immense relief she felt at making the cut-off by the skin of her teeth.

Slowly, she rose from the couch. Fortunately, her high heel walking skills had improved during the past two hours, so she didn’t have to watch her feet with every step.

Alexa felt more than a little singed by his gaze. Had he looked this warmly at the other women? Standing no more than a foot in front of him, his sensuality enveloped her like a warm blanket.

“Alexa,” he said, his voice slightly husky, “will you accept this heart from me?”

She paused, and licked her lips, knowing she needed to play this moment for all it was worth. Cocking her head to one side, she looked him up and down, pretending she needed to evaluate him a little longer before making her decision. Finally, after she felt that she had tortured him long enough she leaned close to his ear and whispered, “I will.”

She delicately took the gold box from his fingers and turned back towards her seat, her head high and her eyes twinkling. She hoped no one could see her heart pounding, or her hands shaking slightly. She wasn’t sure if she had gone a little overboard with her acceptance, but she had wanted to stand out from all of the contestants who had squealed, “Oh thank you Brandon!”

As she sat down and arranged the folds of her silk skirt around her, Joe said, “Wow. I definitely feel like some hearts were laid on the line during our selection ceremony.” Joe chuckled at his pun.

The women who weren’t holding chocolates looked terribly dejected. Alexa felt sorry for them and wondered why they were willing to subject themselves to this kind of emotional torture. Did women only think of themselves as worthy if they won some silly competition?

These questions had plagued Alexa for years as she watched her mother and sister go through the pain and suffering of rejection and self-hatred. She had always thought she was immune to such feelings, but she knew damn well if she hadn’t been among the fortunate final ten tonight, she would have gone home feeling that somehow, in some way, she didn’t measure up as a woman.

So many unanswered questions further fueled her fire to write this expose. Maybe she could even parlay the article into an entire book about the many ways society set women up against each other in a futile search for happiness.

But as she watched Brandon say his goodbyes, she noticed how gentle he was. “Brigit,”

she said quietly to her new friend, “He’s sure being nice to the women he didn’t pick, don’t you think?

Brigit gave her an odd look. “Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be nice to them? He’s such a great guy.”

Alexa nodded, acting like she was in complete agreement, before grabbing her chocolate out of the box and taking a large, extremely necessary bite.

Two days later, Alexa had settled into the huge mansion at the top of Pacific Heights with the rest of the remaining contestants, who were out by the swimming pool, sunning themselves.

Or trying to, in any case. Having grown up in the infamous San Francisco summer fog, Alexa knew everyone was shivering, yet willing to risk hypothermia in the off chance that Brandon stopped by and saw them in their bikinis.

Alexa didn’t have any intention of putting on a bathing suit in front of the cameras, so she hid in her room. She pulled out her duffel bag from the floor and unzipped the secret inside pocket to reach for her notebook, when she felt the telltale vibrations of her cell phone.

It was probably Jane, she figured, wanting to get an update on how her story was progressing. Alexa wished she had some dirt to share. As it was, she was on the verge of saying something like, “Actually, they’re all nice women, except for one, and I like them, and I’m feeling really bad about betraying them all this way, so could I write a different story for the cover?”

Alexa snorted. That was a sure fire way to lose her big chance at journalistic distinction.

Clicking the talk button on her cell phone, she was surprised to hear Melanie, her sister.

“Alexa! We saw you on TV last night!”

The contestants had been told that the show was practically live. Nonetheless, Alexa was amazed by just how quick the first episode had aired. So much for her undercover story.

Already, this show was feeling more like a way-too-exposed-all-the-time exposé.

“I couldn’t believe it when Sophie called me into the living room and said you were one of the
Falling For Mr. Right
contestants.”

Alexa grunted. Their mother made them call her Sophie, forbidding them to ever refer to her as mother or mom, especially in public. When she had men over, she always said Mel was her roommate, never her oldest daughter.

“You are so sly, girl! And all this time we thought you were a dyke, or something, working for that creepy magazine.”

“The correct term is lesbian,” Alexa scolded her extremely pc-clueless sister.

“Whatever,” her sister said, ignoring her reprimand. “What did you do to yourself? I hardly recognized you!”

Alexa tried to act as if her physical transformation had been nothing but a silly afterthought. “It’s the haircut. Does wonders for me.”

“I’m not buying it,” Mel replied. “You must have had the works done. I’ve never seen you in anything nice enough that the Salvation Army would be willing to sell.”

“Don’t hold back, Mel,” Alexa muttered, dismayed by just what a low opinion her sister had of her appearance. Not that she cared for Mel’s too-tight, too-short, too-shiny wardrobe, but even so, Alexa was smarting a bit.

“It’s like a fairy godmother waved her wand and turned you into a frickin’ princess.”

Alexa smiled, thinking that Mary was indeed a perfect fairy godmother.

“You gonna let me borrow that dress?” her sister asked her, yanking the smile off of Alexa’s face in no time flat. “I’d be so hot in it. Even Sophie wants to wear it.”

“Mel, I’ve got to go,” Alexa said, more than ready to end the call. “I’m not even supposed to have a cell phone here.”

But Mel wasn’t going to be put off. “Not so fast, little sis. First you need to dish out some dirt. Is Brandon as much of hunk in real life as he is on TV? I swear that boy just about melted the glass off of the screen.”

Alexa grimaced. “Nice image, Mel. But yeah, I guess he’s pretty hot,” she lied. She could never tell her sister the truth, that Brandon was way hotter than anyone could ever possibly imagine. Especially given that she’d hardly been able to think about anything else since grinding the contents of her chili-dog into his shirt.

Mel wasn’t buying her reticence. “I can tell you’re holding out on me, sis. Weren’t you so freaked out when you tripped? Sophie and I would have been totally railing on you if we weren’t related to you. You looked like a complete idiot!”

“Goodbye Mel,” Alexa said, hanging up on her sister.

Just as she had hid her cell phone away again, Brigit peeked her head in the door.

“Alexa, are you coming outside?”

Alexa shook her head. “No suit. It’s always so cold here in the summer, I didn’t bother to pack one.”

“You can borrow one of mine.”

Alexa raised an eyebrow. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m nearly a foot taller than you, and I don’t think your suit will fit quite right. I’m perfectly happy to sit out the pool party.”

“No way! And miss out on all the fun?” Brigit exclaimed.

Alexa thought having her nails plucked out one by one would be more fun, but she kept the thought to herself.

“Besides,” Brigit added with a giggle, “My little bikini’s not meant to cover up much anyway. And I’m not going to wear it, so I insist.”

“Then why’d you bring it?” Alexa asked, confused yet again by the workings of the female mind.

Brigit shrugged. “I’m too shy to wear it around all of the cameras.” Gesturing to the one-piece floral-print suit she was wearing, she said, “I was sort of saving it just in case I got some time alone with Brandon in the hot tub.”

Alexa held back a laugh. “I hadn’t planned on any hot tub time myself. Big oversight, I guess. Anyway, I don’t want to steal your bikini thunder, Brigit.”

But Brigit had already gone next door and grabbed the suit out of her closet. She handed it to Alexa. “See you in a few minutes.”

Alexa held up the pathetic excuse for a suit. “She expects me to wear this? Strippers get to wear more at all-nude clubs!”